Unite, Britain's biggest union, confirmed today it will be consulting its 100,000 health service members on industrial action, following Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's "divide and rule refusal to sanction the recommended one per cent pay rise for all NHS staff".

Other unions including Unison and the GMB will also consult their members on industrial action.

Some NHS staff will receive the one per cent pay rise, as will members of the armed forces, doctors and dentists, senior civil servants, prison officers and the judiciary.

But an estimated 600,000 health workers will only receive their normal incremental pay rise rather than the one per cent, which had been recommended by the Pay Review Body (PRB).

Around 400 "very senior managers" in the NHS will not receive the one per cent rise.

Unite head of health Rachael Maskell said: “Jeremy Hunt has adopted a divide and rule tactic which calls into serious question the relevance of the so-called independent PRB.

“He is deliberately muddying the waters by trying to imply that the annual increments that staff receive, as they gain more skills to benefit patients throughout their careers, is part of the annual pay increase – it is not.

"It is despicable that Hunt has adopted such an underhand tactic.

She added: “Our members are being hit by the escalating cost of living crisis – their pay packets are shrinking year by year. Their hard work and dedication appears to count for nothing in an NHS which is being parcelled up for privatisation at an accelerating pace.

“We will be consulting with our members about the possibility of industrial action."

Other unions also voiced their anger at the pay decision.

Unison accused the coalition of taking a scalpel to the pay review report and of "showing contempt" for NHS workers, adding that 70 per cent of nurses will receive no pay rise this year.

The GMB said it will now consult its members in the NHS on what they wanted to do, warning that the blocking of a full one per cent pay rise would be taken as a "personal insult."

The Government said the pay policy in the NHS will save over £200 million in 2014-15 and over £400 million in 2015-16, which it announced will be reinvested into the health service and help protect jobs.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said: "Public sector workers make a vital contribution to the effective delivery of public services. We need to continue with public sector pay restraint in order to put the nation's finances back on a sustainable footing.

"We are delivering on our commitment to a one per cent pay rise for all except some of the most senior public sector workers."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt [PA]

In a BBC interview during his trip to Israel, Prime Minister David Cameron was asked why he did not feel all NHS staff were worth a one per cent pay rise.

Mr Cameron replied: "NHS staff are worth a one per cent pay rise and everyone in the NHS will get at least a one per cent pay rise, either through the one per cent raise or through the progression payments that they otherwise receive.

"But let's look at the big picture here. It is right to make difficult decisions about public sector pay.

"It is good that it is increasing and not frozen but it is right to take those difficult decisions because it means we can keep more people employed, we can keep more people in work and make sure we spend money on vital treatments, on hospitals, on delivering services, which is what patients so badly want."

Dean Royles, chief executive of NHS Employers, said he knew staff would feel "disappointed" by the decision.

He said: "The simple fact is that the decision to have no annual pay increase for those already eligible for increments will help ensure more that staff remain in employment than would otherwise be the case.

"More than two-thirds of NHS spending is on staff and increasing all staff pay by one per cent would have cost about half a billion pounds, equivalent to around 14,000 nurses."

He added: "I know trade unions will be angry but hope they will recognise a shared desire to maximise job security for staff and work with us on creative solutions."